Please help – trying to avoid rental car ripoffs

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Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

  • nopeda
    Participant

    I want to fly from ATL to BOS and rent a car for 5 days to go up into NH. The first attempt was the supposed bundle and save package by expedia. They didn’t even pretend to save you any money on flights or car rental. From there I tried rentalcars.com who at Google said cars from $6/day. Going to their site there was nothing for $6 but there were supposed options for twice that price at $12/day, BUT!!!, the lowest total price for 5 days was $118.

    My calculator says 12 X 5 is $60, so their best price is over twice what they say. So I tried expedia for just rental cars and they list cars for $12/day and the 5 day cost is around $60:

    https://tinyurl.com/yd3fo3zr

    BUT!!! looking at the details that have check marks by them some of the text and check marks are green and some of the text and check marks are black. Is that a way of tricking us into thinking they have Unlimited mileage and then they charge us for mileage when we return the vehicle? Or…??? Can anyone suggest the most economical way to rent a small car (it’s just me with 2 bags) for 5 days (Feb 10-14) to drive from BOS up into NH and back to BOS?

    Thank you for any help!
    David


    Defcon5
    Participant

    I’ve had issues with Rentalcars.com when booking online with them.

    Now I call them to know exactly what I’m paying for, to be fair they handled my complaints well in the past.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    I mostly rent in Ireland, UK, and South Africa. I’ve sometimes looked at Rentalcars.com, always left without booking as the rates seem too vague about inclusions/exclusions and very random, for example, a Fiat 500, not that I would want one, more expensive than an a Vauxhall Astra, which makes no sense.

    As an example, a few weeks ago I found what seemed to be a good rate for the car type I wanted with ‘Easirent’ and it showed the rental location as ‘airport’. Having had an extremely negative experience with Easirent a couple of years ago, I know that they not at the airport, but have a very poor shuttle service which takes you to a tiny crowded office, this is near Gatwick, which is too small to adequately service the number of people, the staff were pushy to the point of rudeness in trying to sell insurance, and so on. My confirmation for a people carrier type vehicle showed 200 miles/day but they told me it was 100. Everything with those people is a battle – walk away.

    I phoned rentalcars.com and they first told me that Easirent had an office in the airport car rental area – they don’t – and eventually admitted that the website was wrong and had to be updated. However, they matched the rate for me with another company that did have an airport office, so ultimately, but after a conversation that should not have been necessary, good service. Rentalcars.com have some good rates but there is less transparency than with many other consolidator sites.

    I have come to the conclusion that all car rental companies have dubious practices, sometimes it is best to stick the ones you know and can negotiate with. For me that tends to be Avis and Bidvest in South Africa and Budget in UK. In Ireland I usually use a small local operator.


    GivingupBA
    Participant

    David, with respect, I’m sorry that your post seemed (to me) to be slightly illogical in that the thread title says you are trying to avoid ripoffs, but then you ask for “the most economical way to rent a small car”. I wonder if the two don’t sit well together?

    To avoid trouble, my method for decades has always been to book a car direct with the most reputable companies on their website. So I use Avis and Hertz (I’m not associated in any way with either company). I’m ready to be corrected and wish you a safe and trouble-free journey anyway.


    Stowage222
    Participant

    When in the USA I tend to book with Alamo.co.uk and have found their rates competitive but more importantly most of the extras are included. I then use a CDW excess policy in the UK for a few pounds a day.


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    Like GivingUpBA I also rent directly with Hertz or Avix and sometimes Sixt. I find the hassle of going through Carrental.com etc not worth the small saving. What i have done though, if the saving is substantial, printed off the quote and shown it to Hertz etc (depending) who often match the price or offer a two car upgrade.


    SwissExPat
    Participant

    I rent alot out of Dublin.

    The ‘Rub’ there is that if you rent from one of the smaller outfits or you useg an Aggregator to book with the Bigger guys like Avis/Hertz, they will send you to the OFF-Airport main Car rental Hub which is a shuttle ride away.

    Rent with Hertz/Avis/Sixt/Europcar and be a member of their FF program, and you get on airport service with the car (collect and drop off) in the Terminal building. THis is a minimum 30 minute saving at both collection and drop off and significantly reduces the hassle factor.

    Prices are often a bit more than the aggregators but for me, definitely worth it.


    K1ngston
    Participant

    I agree with LP, when I rent vehicles I go direct to the source, i.e. Avis or Hertz as you will get a better service using them directly. I have found the level of service of Avis in the UK in particular to be very good obviously I am sure that can change…

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